Immediate Effects of Cyclic Meditation on State Mindfulness in Normal Healthy Volunteers: A Controlled Study

Abstract

Meditation is a profound inward attention as practiced in many traditions. Meditation techniques such as mindfulness meditation or transcendental meditation include specific postures, focused attention, or an open attitude toward distractions defined by National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), USA. Regular practice enhances calmness and relaxation, improve psychological balance, cope with illness, or enhance overall health and well-being (NCCAM, 2010).Mindfulness meditation involves paying heightened awareness to the present-moment and non-judgmentally focusing on all that we possess to a greater or lesser extent. It is an intrinsic state that all humans can cultivate through a long-term practice of meditation, which enhances mindfulness skills and in turn these skills promote psychological well-being (Soler et al., 2014). There are twocomponent models of mindfulness, i.e., sustained attention in the present moment and the open, curious, and accepting attitude (Lutz, Slagter, Dunne, & Davidson, 2008). Recently, mindfulness has been proposed to remediate a range of clinical problems (e.g., depression, anxiety, stress) and to impact core aspects of social cognition (e.g., meta-cognition, self-referential thought, cognitive behavior, rather than physiological, paradigm for meditation. Following the guided meditation like focusing on sensation in the body, sound, thoughts and emotions (longer formal practices) or shorter formal practices (MBCT, Vipassana) and informal meditation practices (Cyclic Meditation, Transcendental Meditation or mindfulness in daily life activities), or both, there are definitive changes in higher mental functions of such practitioners (Crane et al., 2014). These practices certainly effect the mindfulness of individuals whether practiced long term or even a single session (Vinchurkar, Singh, & Vis wes waraiah, 2 014).One of the various forms of mindfulness is the practice of a unique technique called Cyclic Mediation (CM). CM is a moving meditation practice derived from an ancient Indian text, Mandukya Upanishad (Nagendra & Nagrathana, 1997). It was fundamentally designed for novice practitioners and combines the practice of yoga postures with guided meditation. CM is known to induce a quiet state of mind, which is compatible with the description of meditation (dhyana or effortless expansion), according to Sage Patanjali (Subramanya & Telles, 2009a). Although this moving meditation differs from the classic description of meditation, in which the practitioners remain seated, keeping as still as possible, the mental state in both practices (moving meditation and seated practices) is supposed to be comparable (Subramanya & Telles, 2009b). An essential part of the practice of CM is being aware of sensations arising in the body (Nagendra & Nagrathana, 1997) which emphasize the mindful component.Several studies have demonstrated the beneficial effects of Cyclic Meditation on behavioral and cognitive domains. In a previous study conducted on middle managers, CM program decreased occupational stress levels and baseline autonomic arousal in 26 asymptomatic, male, middle managers (Vempati & Telles, 2000). Studies conducted to determine the effects of CM practice reported a decreased oxygen consumption indicating physiological relaxation as in mindfulness (Sarang & Telles, 2006). Few other studies on immediate effects of CM concluded that it improves attention, cognition, enhances slow wave sleep and reduces anxiety (Patra & Telles, 2009; Sarang & Telles, 2006, 2007; Subramanya & Telles, 2009b). Mindful yoga practices (like CM) may generate the state of mindfulness, which, when evoked recurrently through repeated practice, may accrue into trait or dispositional mindfulness (Chambers, Gullone, & Allen, 2009; Garland et al., 2010). A recent study on the effective practice of mindfulness to explore the relationship of meditation on mindfulness skills and psychological health demonstrated a significant improvement in both the variables (Deepeshwar, Suhas, Naveen, & Nagendra, 2014). …